St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1887-10-29

gave us from their mastheads, but they
were certainly deceived as 10 our iden-
tity. They did not come dead at us on
the start. probably intending to give
us bit of investigation. but no sooner
did the signal of distress become plain
to them than each dhow altered her
course and bore straight down. Did
not our signal call for help? Was it
not their duty to hasten to our aid?
There was bat one other sail in sight.
and she was well up the Gulf. The
pirates hal clear coast and a hapless
victim. and they cracked on all sail.
They had scarcely been seen before
the Yankee mate recognized the identi-
cal dhows Of the day previous. and
after that we had no fears of making y
mistake. Our whole crew entered into
the scheme with will While we did
not beat to quarters, every gun was
made ready. ammunition passed up
and long before the dhows were up We
had every preparation made. Two
thirds Of the men were kept in shelter
behind the bulwarks, and the pirates
could see nothing to arouse suspicion.
The piratical crafts came along in
bunch. They were Of about the same
size and burden. and each carried fully
forty men. When they had come down
within cannon shot they separated. hav-
ing probably planned to lay us aboard
stem and stern. but our Captain did not
propose to let it go that far. While he
could have no doubt of our ability to
clean out the scoundrelly gang. he re-
allied that hundred determined fell
lows dumped Sppn our decks with
pistols and cutlasses meant death and
wounds to some Of our crew. just IS
the dhows separated our ports were
knocked open. the guns run out, and
next moment we were giving it to them
hot and heavy. The fellows could not
have been more surprised had the sea
suddenly opened to swallow them up.
Each of the dhows had = couple of can
non ON deck. but there was no thought
of using them. The knowledge that
they had caught a Tartar seemed to
unnerve them, and the firss dhow had
gone down before either of the other
two seemed to think Of escape. Then
it was too late. Our shot went right
through them and left terrible gaps for
the sea to pour in, and in just seven
minutes by the watch from the firing Of
the first gun we got the order to cease
firing.
Zone dhow was at the bottom. the
second with her rail awash, and the
third was on her beam end and slowly
turtle. The survivors of our
were floating about on
pieces of the wreckage, but by the time
we had lowered our boats and picked
up seven the rest had been pulled under
by the sharks. which came to the feast
in great school. Among those res
cued were the captains OF two of the
dhows. Seven worse looking villains
than those we picked up were never
seen in or out Of prison. They were .
defiant lot. too. Having recovered
from their shock of surprise, and COM
pretending that a trick had been played
on them. they fought us even as we
rescued them from the sharks. No
matter how bad gang you get hold
OF, on sea or land. some one of them
will be ready to turn noss' to save his
neck. 1t was SO in this case. Six Of
them refused to answer question con-
the American brig. but the
seventh was willing to tell all If it
would save him from the yartl-srm.
He said that every one Of the crew had
been made away with. and that the
brig was then lying in the bay spoken
Of They were intending to plunder.
dismantle and scuttle her. but had not
yet begun the work. having espied the
Spitfire and come out to investigate her.
He gave the number Of men aboard the
three dhows At ITO.
"In those ds3s the Captain of one Of
her Majesty's vessels on . foreign
station. or l might say. on barbarous
coast had things much his own way.
was only over when our Cap
tain ordered whips at the yardarms. and
informed the six pirates that their time
had come. Not q man of them even
changed countenance, while each ut
tered the word .Kismet' is fate. Each
man went to his death As calmly as il it |
was an everyday affair, and the in |
|ormer gazed upon the spectacle with
IS little concern IS you please. When
he necks Of the six were well stretched
he bodies werc lowered and sent to
sharks. Then We spruced up y bit
headed in for the bay. and by mid after
noon were alongside the brig. She was
anchored within pistol shot Of the shore.
md nine or ten villainous Arabs made |
heir escape from her before We had
,ome up.
''The sights aboard that brig have
always haunted me. There were stains
II blood all over her decks. proving |
hat the crew had fought = gallant
light. and in the cabin were the CORY |
heads Of two Of the sailors. At tho
loot Of the companion was bloody
hand. and near the scuttle butt was
another. believe three or four of the
briggs crew surrendered. and were de-
iberately tortured to death. Our Cap
ain had agreed to spare the informer's
life. and when ready to 60 the Arab
vas ordered overheard. II was only .
lair swim to shore. and he did not need
% be told twice. He made dive OF |
he rail. came up like duck. and then
headed for the beach with an easy
stroke. He had gone about fifty yards
ghen 4 dozen Of our crew called ont in